


Parallax

by Canaan



Series: How It Could Have Happened [16]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Angst, Introspection, M/M, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-27
Updated: 2011-03-27
Packaged: 2017-10-17 07:32:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/174399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Canaan/pseuds/Canaan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dying's no picnic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Parallax

**Author's Note:**

> A drabble-and-a-half in response to a couple of prompts--I don't know if I filled either of them, it's more like I sideswiped both of them. Prompts are at the bottom. Falls before "And the Greatest of These . . . ", but it's stand-alone. Spoilers for SoD/LotTL.
> 
> Beta'd by the fabulous Yamx and Aibhinn. Any mistakes are All Mine. Disclaimer: I don't own them, I'm just haunted by them.

Jack's gasp spoke of a thousand knives slicing through his lungs. The Doctor hurt with it, face hidden by the makeshift tent in the conference room.

In the quiet of the _Valiant_ 's night, Jack asked, "You there, Doctor?"

"I've not gone on a pleasure cruise," the Doctor said. He hated the quaver that age lent his voice. "How're you . . . holding up?" Jack had made himself the Master's whipping boy; his earlier death was chilling. It took him hours to revivify.

Jack rattled his chains. "Still hanging around. Dying's no picnic, but it beats losing people--the paperwork's a bitch."

The Doctor thought of Rose--not dead, but lost. "I'm so glad she's beyond his reach."

A beat passed. "I know, Doc." Jack's voice held a wealth of words he wouldn't say before the Master's eyes and ears.

The Doctor's throat tightened. Understanding slowly dawned: Jack had been talking about _him_.

 

 _A/N: WMR's prompt: "The Doctor and Jack, talking about death/dying." Poetry's prompt: "Why not try to see things from a different angle?"_


End file.
